Tuesday, November 14, 2017

at the streetville of flowers

they came with mops, brooms, 
   buckets on streets,
and swept off the beggars,
   homeless, clueless
addicts slumped on my feet-
   cruising between

my arms, spray-painted by  
   electric green
and psychedelic orange-
   my head, turban
of colorful stories-
   erased to white-  

i'm restored melody
   flowing breezy-
i'm saving grace among 
   eyesores & punks-
i flow as flowers do 
   flowering to the sky

shimmering false-blue hues-
   stop!  it's bleached!
the whole city is tangle
  of rotting bones 
coated with fresh garden air
  for VIP guests

so I stand still
  dreaming of sunflowers
buzzing of insects- 
  collecting rain in pockets-
my nose runny 
  with smog by whizzing cars 




  

Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Street Art or Culture, Hosted by Lillian ~  This is theme: I’ve posted five examples of street art for folks and ask them to pick one and somehow write about it. Images in public domain at Pixabay.com. Only requirement is that folks post the accompanying image.

21 comments:

  1. Love the title and the story you're telling here --- that wall, that street scene, erased....then restored in flowing beauty, flowers, false-blue hues, for VIP guests. A city "white-washed and painted oh so beautiful" to make it look good...hiding the tangle of bones. That's my read here....I wonder if in this instance, there really was more detractive graffiti first? And what will be there next week or next month?

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    Replies
    1. Sometimes these graffiti are erased and painted over, specially the not so nice ones ~ In other cities, the bad eyesores are removed elsewhere for VIP guests.

      Thanks Lillian ~

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  2. So many cities are being gentrified... and in the end we fill them with cars... I'm not sure I like progress.

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  3. This seems to me to be about covering up the problems, not dealing with them. It's kind of sad.

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  4. That's a great title, Grace, and I like the way you have conveyed the business-like attitude of the cleaners. I also like the doubt that creeps in about the results of their cleaning in:
    ' my head, turban
    of colorful stories-
    erased to white-'.
    and
    ' stop! it's bleached!
    the whole city is tangle
    of rotting bones
    coated with fresh garden air
    for VIP guests'.
    And what on earth happens to the down and outs? Where have they been swept to?
    An original protest poem!

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  5. I liked "erased to white" and "swept off the beggars,
    homeless, clueless".

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  6. Really nice write Grace.

    Seriously, "amazing grace to eye sores and punks" should be your tag line. ha. That made me laugh when I got to it. Nice flow.

    On some level, it hurts when they paint over the street art, but its just a fresh canvas. I hung out with some street artists a few years ago. They know its not permanent.

    Washing away the homeless and such does not cure the problem, it only hides it for a bit -- you know.

    Careful, all that surreal imagery and flow might upset the "straight tie" poets. Smiles.

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  7. That smog sure likes to fill the air as cars zoom by without a care.

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  8. Beautiful imagery. I can picture this as a short film. Bravo!

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  9. Wunderful :)
    ZQ
    ps: not an error in spelling...

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  10. Creating an illusion or would it be a diversion to the inner city problems. Can the problems really be swept away? You have created a strong image that stays with the reader.

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  11. PROFOUND and excellent poetry!!!

    you have strong imagery and powerful expressions my friend!

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  12. i'm restored melody
    flowing breezy-
    i'm saving grace among
    eyesores & punks

    How true that flowers have such an effect. It is a soothing experience!

    Hank

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  13. Love this take on the prompt with these flowers Grace. "the whole city is tangle / of rotting bones / coated with fresh garden air / for VIP guests" This is almost daily occurrence in my country.

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  14. ah yes, some powerful lines...this wiping off of reality...loved reading!!

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  15. Bleached and beautified for the VIPs. Totally relate with this poem cause I have seen it happen multiple times

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  16. This is truly splendid work, Grace. Marvelous flow and imagery.

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  17. Save the flowers! Share a smile. Oh, this was so splendid.

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  18. your poem reminded of those times in the philippines when the government cleans up or hides the eye sores to make the capital look good for international events. Once, the government erected a facade of pretty buildings to hide the slums. There'd also be a planting frenzy which did make the city look fresh for a while.

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  19. What a brilliant title to pin this stunning poem to.

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